cast boolits in 218 Bee

[loophole]

I've been shooting cast boolits for 30 years--I think I know all the basics. I have a couple of 45-70's that regularly shoot 5-shot groups into 1 moa at 100 yds, and some leverguns that will hold 3 shots in 2" or less at that range, if I do my part. I have a couple of 218 Bees that ought to shoot better than what I'm getting.
The Ruger No 1 (14" twist) will put 50 and 55 gr Nosler Ballistic tips and Hornaday SX's into 7/8 inch or less at 100 yds. I've used two molds--a 55 gr RCBS and a 60 gr Saeco, bullets weight sorted, gas checks, rcbs rifle lube sized .224 and .225, Lyman #2 and Linotype. I've tried about every powder listed in 4 different reloading manuals, and I cannot get consistent MOA groups. I've tried velocities between 1600 and 2200 fps. The best groups are about 1-1/2 moa using a case full of AA2015Br or Data 2200. It doesn't seem to matter whether the alloy is Lyman no2 or Lino, or whether they are sized .224 or .225.
It's pretty much the same story with the Mod 65 Browning. I use a globe front and lyman tang sight. I can shoot near 1/2" groups with this gun at 50 yds when there is no wind, using 4227 and Horn 45 gr. HP Bee bullits. At the same distance it won't do much better than 3 shots in 1" with either of the cast slugs.
I know the 16" twist is not optimum for the 55 and 60 gr boolits, but I've shot 50 and 55 gr jacketed--single loaded--much better than what I can do with the cast.
There must be some deep, dark secrets involved with 22 cal. Any ideas?

[carpetman]

loophole---the only .22 cal bullet I have used is the RCBS. In my 22-250 or either of my .222's it's hard to find something they wont shoot. This includes even shooting them without gas checks. My .223 is probably my most accurate gun with jacketed bullets,but I have yet to find a combination that will shoot the cast bullets.

[Bass Ackward]

loopy,

When no powder makes a difference you have to look elsewhere. Most of the time that you have trouble getting a 22 to shoot is related to the throat. Calibers that have long OR big throats to cut pressure can be the culprit. And .... Ruger is infamous for this. You need to make a pound slug of the throat or make a chamber cast to actually KNOW.

My Howa 223 can force chamber a .228 bullet and shoots it's best at .2265. So I use the 22-60 RCBS bullet made for the ol High power and size it down. And I never go over 14 BHN unless I want over 3000 fps.

.224/5s might as well be shot gun ammo. If you don't want to slug, try to hand lube some that are unsized and see if that works with your best load. If it does, then you know you are on the right track. But stay with the hard mix to get the best diameter out of your molds. Only deal with one variable at a time.

[Bent Ramrod]

Loophole,

My Ruger #3 .22 Hornet seems to like heavier bullets (60 grain) and larger diameters (currently sizing the Ideal 228367 to .227"). It also took a fair amount of shooting jacketed bullets and some fire-lapping before it started to perform with cast bullets. For a while, it seemed to shoot better in the winter than in the summer, but that cleared up eventually.

You might try shooting your bullets as cast, without sizing, seated far enough out so that chambering the cartridge pushes the bullet slightly back into the case. I seemed to have my best results with 4198 powder at about 2000 ft/sec. However, 3 grains of Unique with the 225462 Ideal bullet was pretty good, too.

Keep at it. .22 centerfire cast bullet loads are pretty exasperating to begin with, but the triumph is all that much sweeter at the end:mrgreen: .

[GooseGestapo]

Ditto what the others have said.

First, clean the barrels of all Cu deposits. This will play havoc with cast bullet accuracy.
Try shooting some (in the .218 Bee) without gas checks, unsized, and either hand lubed, or tumble lubed. Use either 3.0gr of Unique, or Bullseye (my choice).

You'll get ~1,200fps, and if there's no accuracy (1" or less at 25yds), you'll have to get a bigger bullet (diameter).

I have a Ruger 77/22 that with select loads will shoot as well at 100yds with a cast bullet at 2,100fps as it does with "j" bullets. About 1.5".

Good Luck!

[rhead]

My hornet was doing about the same until I raised the oven temp while I was heat treating. Mine seems to like them rather hard. 50 yard groups shrank from just under one inch to just under a half inch. I am using a bator 55 sized to .225.
Just one more thing that you can try.

[w30wcf]

In addition to the good advice so far, I would add 2 things:

1.) Weigh the bullets to within + _ .1 gr.

2.) Keep the bullets separate from each cavity and orientate the bullets (so that the gate cut off is in the same direction) in the lubrisizer and into the gun. A .22 bullet, being small, can be sized ever so slightly off center if the lubrisizer ram and die are not aligned perfectly. If that's the case, putting the error in one direction will definitely help.

Good luck,

w30wcf